The Age of Evil
by Loz-My
Summary: Continued from the unwanted reunion The President of Gallifrey is angered at Romana's escape and now he wants her back in his clutches and will do anything to get her back. However Romana has her own problems to deal with.
1. Chapter 1 Human or Timelord

Chapter 1 human or time lord?

The laser gun fired in the air as it aimed for the teen boy. Clyde Langer ran through the car park as the Sontaran chased after him. But the Sontaran was far behind as its little legs couldn't take it any faster. Clyde looked over his shoulder as the alien pointed its gun again.

"Come and get me Mr Potato head!" he shouted laughing. It angered and pulled the trigger. But the beam missed as a swift Clyde passed around a car. As the Sontaran turned as well it fell to Romana's feet with one blow to the back of the neck. Clyde came to a holt once the Sontaran was down.

"A bit of advice, never insult a Sontaran" said Romana calmly. She placed the large stick over her shoulder as she looked back up to see Rani Chandra and Sarah – Jane Smith running towards them.

"What happened?" said an out of breath Sarah.

"And what's with the stick?" asked Rani.

"There's a pressure point at the back of the neck so apply pressure and you know the rest" said Romana.

"Right we better get it back to its ship, I wonder why it was here in the first place?" said Sarah – Jane. Romana, Rani and Clyde got a hold of the big headed alien and stared to drag it to the ship. In the middle of the local field the Sontaran ship stood with the hatch down. Once the Sontaran was inside Romana set the controls to float into space away from earth and with that the door was shut and as they stepped back the ship took off and the Sontaran was gone.

At Sarah – Jane's house the four of them sat in the attic with Luke on the video chat.

"So the Sontaran was there for no reason?" Luke said with a perplexed look.

"Well it must have been here for some reason or another" said Sarah just as confused.

"I did not find anything relevant either Sarah – Jane" said Mr Smith from the wall.

"Well we might just have to leave it a blank for now, right it letting late I think you two should get home and rested, we'll try again tomorrow" said Sarah shooing off Clyde and Rani. Luke waved goodbye and turned off the webcam. Romana said good bye in person and they left. Sarah seemed a little shaken when Luke had gone, but that was a mother's love. Romana had already heard the truth behind Sarah and Luke's relationship. She was somehow moved by their story and accepted the truth. She too felt no longer a stranger in their world as she had now lived with Sarah for two months and she was starting to enjoy life on the slow path. Suddenly she saw what looked to be John drinking wine with a strange woman. Her dress was long and looked to be from the middle ages, she could only be described as beautiful. They clanked their glasses and smiled at each other like they had known each other all their lives. Then she was back in the room. Sarah – Jane looked at her with big eyes and Romana shook her head to make herself look ok.

"Romana are you alright" Sarah asked her.

"Yes I'll be ok" Romana replied. Then she went down the steps to get in a hot bath. Sarah hurried down the stairs to the phone and had Martha come over right away. That night Sarah and Romana sat in front of the TV when the door bell rang. Sarah got out of her seat and let Martha in. She shut the door so Romana couldn't see or do anything. Romana looked over her shoulder as the door closed and she placed her ear against the wall. But Sarah and Martha had already gone into the kitchen.

"Right what's wrong Sarah – Jane" asked Martha.

"It's Romana again, this afternoon up in the attic she just sort of froze with fear and the look on her face, it was like she'd seen a ghost" Sarah said with a shudder in her voice.

"Have you asked her about it?" asked Martha. "I did and she just said she was fine but I don't think she is do you think we should contact the doctor?"

"No not yet, I don't want to worry him because he'll come and stick to Romana like glue, because she's all he has left" said Martha.

"Right I'll have Mr Smith run a scan" said Sarah. Martha smiled and headed to the attic to wait. Sarah went back into the room and collected Romana

"Is everything alright Sarah – Jane?" asked Romana. "Yes I just want Mr Smith to run a few tests that's all" Sarah replied with a smile. When they arrived in the attic Martha smiled and sat Romana down in front of the giant computer screen.

The giant computer screen of Mr Smith changed from the rainbow screensaver to the same scanning symbols as before. Once again the green light shaded Romana as it searched up and down her torso. Suddenly she felt a striking pain all over as the light gently brushed pasted her skin. Her eyes tried to a just as the attic faded away and she was dumped in a dark room filled with men. One was strapped to a table as some sort of x-ray scanner beamed through his body. The rest stood and watched as the man screamed for them to stop. One of them stood out from the crowd. He rested his chin on his arm while the other held that up. He had a perfectly groomed moustache and short black hair. His suit said he was the boss. He smiled at the other topless man who was begging him to stop the realise of a creature. Romana didn't understand what was happening but the dark room was slowly fading and Sarah – Jane and Martha were coming into focus. She heard their voices but she wanted to understand what was happening back there. But her mind wouldn't let her and she was sunk deeply into the chair as that was the only thing stopping her from toppling over. The two women helped her back into the chair while she rubbed her head and blinked quickly.

"What ever happened to you?" Sarah asked quickly. Sarah's face was white and Martha was panting like she'd run a marathon.

"I don't know, one minute I'm here, the next I'm in some sort of dark room!" Romana replied. She glanced at Mr Smith who now had a set of results on his screen. The other two also looked to see if there was any problem. Romana's head was based on the screen, and in the dept's of her brain a light flashed on the Temporal Lobe where her memories were kept. All three of them studied the screen carefully as the head moved round.

"What is that?" asked Sarah – Jane. "Romana's Temporal Lobe seems to be filling with memories that she has never experienced" answered the computer.

"But what I find most puzzling is that parts of her DNA seem to be seem to be from an unknown body, I believe the time lords call it regeneration transfer" added Mr Smith. When it had said so a strand of her DNA was put in the place of the head. Suddenly Romana was staring at another computer that contained pictures of DNA and in front of it a repulsive monster that had one eye and tentacles coming out of the sides of its head. But there were other people there, Martha stood in the room along with John or the doctor. Then she was back in the room. Sarah and Martha still had no idea what he was saying.

"Could you explain in further detail?" Martha asked. But Mr Smith didn't have chance to put a word in.

"Regeneration transfer is when a foreign body comes into contact with a regenerating time lord. Because the body is going under major construction the DNA or should I say whole body is unsteady so anything that touch's them will become part of their bodily structure" Romana explained.

"So then someone touched you while you were regenerating two months ago? But what I don't get is why has it taken so long to develop?" Martha questioned. All three of them looked at each other with wide eyes and shrugged.

"Plus who touched you?" Sarah added. "I did when I was examining her!" Martha said.

"That question can be easily answered with whosever memories she is experiencing" Mr Smith supposed. They both looked at Romana who gave them a stare back.


	2. Chapter 2 A Plan of Action

Chapter 2 a plan of action

Deep in the darkest part of space, a man with grey hair sat with narrowed eyes as he focused on his escaped prisoner. He sat on his grand chair at the farthest part of the court room. He stared at his subjects sat above and below him. The great gallifreian court was assembled.

"I want everyone who spoke to the girl present in here now!" he rumbled. A guard quickly heaved open the huge golden door and brought back in a poor old woman. Her sorrowful grey eyes looked down at the floor in shame. Her hands were cuffed together as the guard joined by another held her arms while they walked her to the end of the platform above the black hole. This is where Romana had stood while she was held guilty for nothing by her own planet. This was all about her anyway.

"You say you helped the girl and then turned her in. Is this correct?" he asked her softly. Then woman who was still looking at the floor muttered 'yes' under her breath. The president sat up and put a faint smile on his face.

"I just want my family back" she pleaded to him. His smile dropped again.

"Miss Forman there is no family to return, we made that up so you would co-operate better. Besides you believed us so easily" the president smirked. The woman's grey eyes filled with tears as everyone looked in her direction waiting for a response that would never come. With a wave of his hand they took the woman away.

As the guards took her away another came through the door with a familiar face. The Miss Forman was even too upset to look at his face. He smiled as he peered over at the sobbing woman despite his own state. No one knew when he last bathed as the smell took its toll on the rest of the court. He was placed in the middle of the platform and was left stand on his own with the guards holding their noses. The president pulled a face at the man.

"I see you made contact with the girl while she was on gallifrey" he said. The Master looked at him with a smirk on his face then nodded slowly. The president looked at him with a keen eye and said,

"I have a task for you, we will send you to earth where Romana hides and then you will fetch her back to us alive. But do not forget that you are still a prisoner so you will be under surveillance twenty four seven, put a foot wrong and you will suffer" said the president. The court suddenly was full of rambling voices then they were at an agreement.

"But first you shall be cleansed".

Romana was still being stared at by Sarah – Jane and Martha. She didn't want to tell them anything about what she had been seeing in her head. She wanted to get through it herself as she knew what she going through. But of cause they wouldn't let her.

"To be honest with you, I don't know, so far they've all been different" that was the best answer she could give to them.

"Well maybe first we could concentrate on who did this to you" said Martha. Mr Smith was already doing something without anyone noticing. He had some sort of connecting diagram on his screen and before long a real life picture of a room from a webcam filled the screen.

"What is that?" asked Sarah. The mystery room was filled with what looked to be office equipment. The computer was shaded by a lamp and piles of unsorted paper filled the desk top. A miniature palm tree sat in the corner with lushes green leaves and well watered soil. Suddenly an unknown figure entered the room and stared to fiddle with the paper on the desk, and then he looked at the computer screen and saw two faces staring at him from the attic at Sarah – Jane's house.

"Hello who is that? How did you get this address?" he said puzzled.

"Pete, it's me Rouen" said Romana popping into the picture. Peter Tyler smiled at the young looking girl in the picture.

"Hi Rouen, good to see you, but why are you on my computer screen?" he asked.

"I have a super computer that can do anything, but I didn't tell it to call you, it did that on its own accord!" said Romana vaguely.

"I think you all need to catch up with Rose and John seen as though the gap between worlds is closed" said Mr Smith.

"Ok then I'll get them both" smiled Pete and left the room.

In the grand hallway of Tyler manner Rose stood staring at the top of the stairs while Tony held her phone and hung it over the rail.

"Tony you drop that and Mum will smack you silly" threatened Rose, but it didn't make a difference. The phone slowly slipped out of the toddlers hands and fell towards the floor. Rose made a dash for it but just as the mobile was about to hit the floor. John caught it with one slick move of the wrist.

"Thank you!" Rose panted and hugged John then took the phone.

"Ah just the people I was looking for, someone wants to speak with you over the webcam" Pete smiled. The pair looked at each other and headed for the office. As they sat at the computer the webcam came back in to focus and Martha, Sarah and Romana sat in front of the screen. There were smiles all round as the old friends were reunited for the first time in two months.

"Hello how are you both?" Sarah asked in an excited tone.

"Good how about you, you all look well, but you do look a little pasty Romana, are you ok?" asked Rose.

"Well it maybe the lighting in here, but I did just find out that I'm suffering from regeneration transfer" Romana said with a straight face. Both of the faces on the other side of the line dropped as Romana stared at them.

"Are you sure?" asked John in a serious tone.

"Mr Smith's diagnoses confirmed it, I've been experiencing someone else's memories plus my DNA has changed too" said Romana looking down.

"Romana I need to know, whose memories?" John asked. Romana took a pause and then said "the doctor's".

There was a long pause until John said

"And what about you're DNA, does it have traces of his in it?" Everyone was silent as they didn't know.

"I've been analyzing it while you speak and it turns out there are three types of DNA mixed in one, it seems that there are traces of the time lord but also of another source. I searched the databases of everyone that was here around the time when Romana was ill, and I found a match to John" said Mr Smith. There was another long silence as shock and tension rose in the air. John left the room leaving Rose to stare at the three on the other side of the line.

"I think we better go I need to talk to him, we'll get back to you" assumed Rose and then the screen went dark. Mr Smith shut down the transmission and went back to his normal screensaver. Romana looked at the floor and Sarah gave a sigh. She put her arm around Romana and said,

"Don't worry, he's in shock, it's not your fault, he'll come round when he's ready" and Martha nodded along.

"It's not that Sarah – Jane it's just that, I don't know how the doctor will react" said Romana slowly. She went back to her room while Sarah exited the attic to start on dinner for the three of them. Martha stayed with Mr Smith, just in case Rose and John made contact. Romana sank into the silky bedding where she stared at the ceiling while twitching her fingers. Turning her head she saw the ratty old bag full of the things the Tharil had given her. She pulled it towards her and emptied the contence onto the bed.

The president led The Master into a room where he was uncuffed and left alone. Before them laid an impossible space. A giant hub of revelation was in front of The Master's autumn brown eyes. The hexangular sided panels were lit up scarlet and had many keys that would take The Master where ever he wished, the roof was made from strong yet beautifully cut glass so the outside world was visible. The floors were also made from the translucent material. The centre piece also had a brilliant crimson light shining through. The president smiled at the look on The Master's face. It was official; The Master had his own TARDIS.

The binoculars fell out first and bounced on the smooth surface of the bedding. Then out came the sonic pen, followed by the watch. The watch bounced off the bed and fell on the laminate flooring, then broke into two pieces. One of crucified straps fell off and skimmed across the floor. Romana jolted to reach it quickly, but her reaction was too slow. The screen of the watch was cracked when Romana looked more closely. When she went to turn it on sparks flew out of the cracked surface. The watch was caput. In vain she through it on the bed and turned her attention to the rest of the bag. As she tipped it a little further something else fell out. The unknown object fell neatly on the bed next to the sonic pen. She picked it up to admire the unusual shape and brass texture. The object was slim and smooth like the pen but it had no light on the end and there were two main controls on the side. The top extended to reach a higher frequency. She could tell it was some sort of fancy screwdriver. She flicked the top to make it look bigger and pressed in one of the buttons. A short laser beam flow out of the end to create a black mark on the wall. Martha walked through the floor while Romana still had the screwdriver aimed. Martha turned to assess the black scorch on the wall while Romana faked a smile and hid the screwdriver behind her back.

"Where did you get that?" she asked in shock as she walked over to the bed and demanded a look at the laser. Romana untied her hands from behind her back and handed it over. Martha studied the laser carefully and her expression changed as if she had seen it before. "What is it?" Romana asked.

"I've seen this before, it belonged to The Master!" she said finally.

"You know him?" Romana asked again, her mind was so full of questions.

"I had a short encounter with him, which didn't have the best of endings" she replied with her head down. Romana looked at the floor a long with Martha until the doctor's memory finally came. It came on her like a thunderstorm, the pain, the sadness, the horror that screamed through her mind. "Oh, I'm sorry, I saw" she said painfully to Martha.

Just at that moment Sarah came through the door to announce supper was ready. She turned to see the black scorch on the wall and faced the women sat on the bed.

"I'll fix that" Romana said innocently. Both Martha and Sarah – Jane smiled and laughed at Romana's gesture. When they reached the kitchen the table was filled with three steaming plates of stew. Then they sat down to tuck in. Dinner went down quickly as no one said a word. Martha spent a rather quiet night in Romana's room while Romana bunked in Luke's. She stayed awake most of the night wondering what life would be like elsewhere. Bored of staring at the ceiling she wondered to the attic to see if Mr Smith was still operating. She cuddled up in her dressing gown as she walked the creaky stairs. She had hid the watch in her pocket and used the pen for a torch. The sonic pen provided a thin beam of light so she could find each stair. With each step came a new noise, some louder than others. To avoid any more noise she opened the door and skipped the last step.


	3. Chapter 3 Unspoken Words

Chapter 3 unspoken words

As romana opened the door the light given from Mr Smiths screen illuminated the room. She closed the door quietly and sat on the computer chair. Mr Smith sensed her presence.

"Why up so late romana?" he asked her. For a moment she sat and fiddled with the pen then looked up,

"I couldn't sleep; Luke's mattress is a little bumpy" she said quietly.

"I don't think that's all though, do you still worry about what the doctor will think?" asked Mr Smith quietly. She looked at the big computer then back down again.

"I guess so" she said. Then she pulled the watch out of her pocket and looked at it carefully.

"That looks like it could do with a makeover" said Mr Smith.

"Yes it could but the technology inside is too complex for any old human to fix" romana said with a sigh.

"No one said anything about a super computer not having a go though" said the computer.

"You mean you can fix it?" romana said excitedly. "Just place it in here and it will be as good as new" Mr Smith said. Then as he finished speaking a small compartment underneath the keyboard opened. Romana got up and placed the watch in the compartment, then it shut and the watch was gone.

"It will take some time but I should be able to heal most of the damage" he said.

"Thank you so much" she said and then went back to bed.

As she got back into bed she heard a stirring noise outside. As she pulled back the curtain nothing but the blasts of February winds could be heard or seen. That morning she woke up early and looked out the window and saw nothing yet again. Was she imagining things? While Sarah – Jane and Martha were still asleep she crept up to the attic again and poked her head round the door. Mr Smith sensed her presence and opened.

"Back so soon?" he said as if he would have been smiling.

"Just checking" she said with a smile back. Suddenly something came from his keyboard. As the steam poured out romana reached out her hand to grab the thing inside Mr Smith. This thing looked like something out of the future. The screen had a metal framing while the rest was touch screen, once activated the screen popped out to reveal a hologramic display. The strap was also sleek black leather and came with a working buckle.

"I think you did more than just a few tweaks" she said holding the watch up to the light from the lonely window.

"Do you like it?" he said.

"Like it, I love it" she said trying to hug it.

"Good!" a voice came from a dark corner in the room. Out stepped a man with his long fringe flicked to the side and smiled proud of his bow tie. Romana's smile reached her ears as her eyes laid upon the doctor. She ran up to him and through her arms around him. He was just as happy to see her as he returned the hug.

"The doctor arrived last night when I called him, to help with the watch" said Mr Smith disturbing the peace.

"Hold on a minute, you called him?" romana asked confused letting go of the doctor,

"Did you tell him?" said romana in a more worried tone.

"Tell me what?" the doctor asked confused.

"No I thought I'd let you tell him, doctor romana has something to tell you" said Mr Smith.

"Tell me what?" the doctor demanded.

"I'm suffering from regeneration transfer" said romana in a quiet voice.

"What, how?" he asked.

"On the ship, with the family, I poisoned them with regeneration energy so I could blow up the ship, but I forgot I was holding you, and then when I nearly died and the regeneration process was taking it's time, John touched me and then I changed, so now all the DNA is mixed up, all I'm experiencing is memory spasms, nothing else" romana explained, her olive green eyes burned with the hurtful truth she just shared, her hearts felt as if they had spilled all of her darkest secrets in one go.

Expecting the worst the romana clenched her fists and stared blankly at something unknown. But the doctor just simply smiled at her and dragged her towards his body. Wrapped in his arms, romana felt the world around her drop and everything felt like it was tranquil. Suddenly the door opened and Sarah walked through in her slippers and pyjamas. She held a cup of tea in her hand and her eyes looked swelled with tiredness. Her hair was unbrushed and her hands were scrunched up so tight the handle of the mug nearly broke.

"What's with all the noise?" she asked. The doctor and romana glanced at the door to see the tired lady.

"Doctor, so nice to see you and all, but what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Ah Sarah – Jane nice to see you too, Mr Smith called about romana's watch and also to hear the truth" he finished bluntly. Sarah's face dropped and she took a sip of her tea.

"Well at least you know now, romana's found it hard over the last couple of days, John took it the hardest, and he probably thinks that this is his fault" Sarah explained when she'd done.

"Wait so you told Rose as well? But how did you even connect through to their world, I sealed it back up?" the doctor exclaimed. Romana and Sarah looked at each other while the doctor awaited an answer.

"We can't explain Mr Smith just somehow tapped through and we ended up connecting with Pete Tyler's laptop webcam!" explained romana. When dropping the silence Mr Smith said,

"I was able to connect with the time vortex manipulator as it has a void free pass programmed in the system".

"What, of cause they did, the Tharil probably would let me go any were of the universe as long as I was away from the war!" romana thought out loud. Everyone looked her way as she finished her loud thought, she glanced back wondering what they were staring at her for?

"What war romana? Are the humans attacking again?" the doctor shouted across the room.

"No, it's much worse than that!" she said quietly.

In romana's bedroom Martha awoke from a decent nights slumber. She looked around the murky coloured room and got up to draw the curtains. As she peered outside she saw the low sun faintly through the clouds and smack in front of the house she saw a giant blue box.

"Doctor" she whispered faintly and smiled to herself. She opened the bedroom door and heard voices coming from up the attic stairs. She walked the creaky stairs and opened the door. The room was silent and although the door squeaked no one seemed to notice her come in the room. Mr Smith's screen changed and Rose's face popped up.

"Hey" she said quietly. She was on her own and she'd taken the laptop out of the office into her bedroom.

"How do you feel?" Rose directed at romana.

"Fine for the moment, but the question is how has John has taken it?" romana asked.

"He still blames himself, he hates himself for it, but he'll come round" said Rose hopefully. Suddenly at the mansion the bedroom door opened behind Rose and in walked a brown haired figure with a glum look on his face. John came and sat on the bed next to her. He gave her a quick glance and then carried on looking at the floor.

"She's on the video chat if you want to talk" Rose said quietly. John's neck didn't move an inch as if it was locked and his lips were zipped. Romana came away from the camera and lifted her wrist to her face. Making full use of the upgrades she pressed the hologramic screen and opened a time hole directed for parallel earth. Martha followed her out but by the time she reached romana's spot she only caught the last glimpse of a closing wormhole.

Rose said her goodbyes over the laptop and closed it placing it on the bed. She turned her attention to John who was still sat in the same position.

"What is with you, she's said she's fine, and yet you still sit here and do nothing" she shouted. From down stairs Jackie looked up from the television and pulled a face, Pete didn't even move from his paper.

"How long are you going to be like this?" she shouted. John did nothing but stare at the floor. As rose was about to exit the room a voice from above came from the corner. A slender tone whispered,

"He'll be like it until he sees for himself!", for the first time john looked up as the glum look dropped and he stared at the one who had made him feel like this in the first place. Romana walked out of the darkened corner with a smirk and wide eyes. Rose closed the door again and went over to the bed. John stood up and walked over to romana; he grabbed her arms and glared until their eyes met.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry" he sobbed and grasped romana's arms tighter until they went purple.

"You don't have to be so apologetic, I've told you once and I'll tell you again, I'm fine" romana assured.

The attic went chaotic as Martha had just reported romana's disappearance.

"Why would she just vanish like that?" asked Sarah.

"The bigger question is where has she gone?" questioned Martha.

"I can track her using the transmitter I put in the watch, so if she ever decides to go wondering on days like today then we can see where she is!" exclaimed the doctor. Mr Smith pulled up a channel where a small light appeared to flash in one place.

"Her location seems to be off the grid but I identified it as a parallel galaxy across the void" explained Mr Smith. Romana's wrist began to bleep as John slackened his grip. She glanced at the watch as the same light appeared on the display.

"What's that thing?" asked rose.

"It's the vortex manipulator, it's been tricked out because I kind of broke it" romana beamed.

"So why is it flashing?" asked John.

"No they wouldn't!" exclaimed romana,

"They've installed a tracking device!" Rose and John looked at each other and back at romana.

"What!" they said together. As rose and john looked at romana expecting an answer but she wondered around the room with her hand on her chin resting on her other arm giving a thinking look. Suddenly the door to the bedroom burst open and without even giving a glance the doctor walked in the room. Romana put down her arms and opened her mouth at the stranger that had just walked in the room with no notice.

"Can't I go anywhere without you following me?" said romana gormlessly.

"Answer to that question no I want to know where you are at all times, now" he pointed at john and then Jackie who was stood at the bedroom door

"You lighten up and you how about a nice cup of tea while we are here!". Jackie gave a shocked look and then went to the kitchen. As they all proceeded down the stairs romana paused and looked deep into her memory. Everyone realised that she had stopped and turned to face her.

"Romana!" the doctor panicked. But she couldn't hear him, she was deep in though.

Romana had been inside the doctor's memory before, but this time it was different. The other times it was like staring at a screen and watching a video playback. But this time she could feel the air on her face and the dampness of the humid atmosphere. But something else was making the other side of her face feel warm. As she turned towards the heat her eyes caught the sight of a burning pile of logs. A man stood next to them with a torch and no smile upon his face. Instead he was sad and frightened. When she focused on his face she could see the similarity to someone she knew. Wait, it was John, no wait the doctor she thought. His long brown coat waved in the faint breeze as the fire roared lighting his face in all different shades of yellow. As she turned to the fire she saw something wrapped in white sheets as it burned away. When she focused her eyes she recognised the silhouette of a body. But who was it. Then the heat started to fade away. The doctor and the fire seemed to get further away until it disappeared completely and she was back on the main staircase at Tyler manner. She was surrounded by all her friends as the doctor had his hands on her face and as soon as she battered an eyelid he squeezed her tightly up against his body.


	4. Chapter 4 Target Locked

Chapter 4 target locked

As The Doctor let her go he grabbed her arms and shook her hard.

"Romana, are you ok, Romana, wake up snap out of it!" he taunted. Romana fluttered her eyes and shook her head.

"Ok, ok I'm awake" she moaned. As The Doctor released his grip she walked to the bottom of the stairs is if nothing happened. When they all reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the main living room a tray of tea awaited them. As The Doctor picked up a cup he looked at the rest of them while he took the first sip. Romana still felt uneasy as John had the exact same face The Doctor once had. She could make out the yellow shades shining on his face from the warm but unwelcoming fire. John caught her looking at him in the corner of his eye and stared back. Romana looked away quickly and sat down on one of the sofas. Then taking one of the cups she took a sip and slouched back making herself comfortable.

"Well we will get off once we've finished these!" said The Doctor breaking the silence. He sat down next to Romana while John and Rose talked at the other side of the room.

"So are you ok, what did you see?" he asked her, a serious look had filled his face. Romana took a deep breath and decided to spill the truth.

"You were there and you looked sad, like you'd just lost someone close to you, and you were stood next to a fire with a burning body on top, care to explain" she finished bluntly. The Doctor looked surprised as he wasn't expecting her to come out with something like what she just said.

"I think we need to get back to Sarah – Jane's, I'll explain there" he said. He finished the tea and stood up offering Romana his hand. Romana gulped the rest of her tea then took the offered hand.

"Right we'll be off then" Romana stated.

"Thanks for coming both of you, John needed the boost from you both" Rose smiled. They both stood at the door waving as the two time lords walked into the TARDIS. Romana and The Doctor waved back and closed the door behind them.

"Right I'll get in contact with Mr Smith so we can get back without interrupting the void" he stated fiddling with the controls.

"No need" she said grabbing a lead and connecting it to the watch. The Doctor stepped back and let Romana get to work.

The TARDIS responded to the watch and The Doctor and Romana were able to get on their way. As it moaned through the now familiar vortex The Doctor glanced at Romana fiddling with the panels, he thought hard about what she had said earlier on and decided to ask her about it while he had the chance.

"So you said you saw me next to a fire" he said to her with great interest. She looked up and caught his eyes on her face.

"With a dead body" she whimpered. The doctor's face and tone changed that instant.

"It was The Master, an evil sole with no intension for good, I gave him the chance to live but he chose death, but lucky for me he came back to life hungry for power and he ended up where no one will ever find him" he said flatly.

"I know I met him when I, oh never mind" she cut off mid sentence.

"Romana please tell me I need to know, is he locked up?" asked The Doctor with a panicked voice.

"Yes for now, but I bet the president isn't done with him, he'll want every bit of information about my escape!" Romana muttered under her breath, but clearly she wasn't quiet enough.

"What escape? What does this have to do with the president? How did you even get on Gallifrey?" The Doctor said shocked.

"Long story on the Gallifrey part but I was being held by my own people because I was accused of being human, and when they found out I wasn't they tried keeping me in prison anyway, so I escaped, end of!" Romana said bluntly.

"But it still doesn't explain why the tharil gave me this". She pulled a slim object out of her pocket, the brass plating shined from the reflection of the light. The Doctor looked upon it with large eyes. He snatched it from her hands and looked at every angle to confirm his suspicions.

"Martha told me it was The Master's" Romana mentioned.

"Yes but it's useless, isomorphic control's, will only work for him" he demonstrated pointing it at the wall and pressing hard on the button, but nothing happened. He threw it back to Romana how also pointed it at the wall and fired. The laser beam bounced off every surface of the TARDIS before the wall just absorbed it.

Checking it was safe The Doctor and Romana stood from their ducking positions.

"Told you!" Romana said proudly. The Doctor glanced at her with remorse but then carried on fiddling with the controls.

"So what does that mean then?" The Doctor questioned, he glanced at Romana a second time.

"You're asking me, aren't you the smart one?" Romana fired back, her eyebrows narrowed and she sucked her lips into her face.

"You're the one with all the qualifications, you figure it out; wait a minute Romana I never asked, who are your parents?" he asked her with a smug look on his face. Romana glanced quickly at The Doctor then put her head down pretending not to be there.

"Well my mother's name was Thayadora, she was a member of the high council, and I don't know who my father is!" at this point she had lowered her voice and sunk her head even lower.

"Oh I'm sorry, I'm sure he was a great man" The Doctor said quietly.

"My mother said he was a tyrant, always wanting to be the best and taking anyone down in his way" Romana answered back. Then as they landed the conversation subsided and The Doctor went into Sarah – Jane's attic. The atmosphere quietened as they walked in the room. Everyone stared at them as if they where party crashers.

"Where have you been?" Martha asked breaking the silence.

"I took a little trip away from all the hassle, if that's ok with you!" Romana replied.

"We could all do with a holiday, with all what's been going off!" Sarah inputted.

"Then that's settled, we're all going to go on vacation!" The Doctor said excitedly.

"And where do you suggest we go?" Romana asked.

"Since it's you who needs it the most I have a special place in mind" he grinned. All the others looked at each other vigorously having no clue what was on his mind, no one could ever tell what was no his mind. But with the doctor, they thought, it would be out of this world.

Out of the window stood a little potato shaped man with a silver devise in his hand. Also a man made of metal accompanied him. The Sontaran and the cyberman lurked outside of Sarah – Jane's house looking directly at the window of the attic.

"We found her, now all we have to do is open the lock and let the time lords do the rest!" the Sontaran grinned. Unable to smile back the cyberman just looked at him flatly with no expression.

"No joy you lot have you?" the Sontaran said briefly.

"We cybermen have removed all emotion's to gain strength, emotions bring weakness!" said the cyberman in the robotic voice.

"Just a bunch of empty tin cans!" the Sontaran muttered under its breath. Then pointing the device at the sky, the Sontaran let off a beam of iridium energy. It bled through the atmosphere of earth and into the dark crevices of space. The planet gallifrey quivered in its boot's as once again the time lock had been undone and everyone felt the sudden jolt as it felt like the ground was being ripped apart. The gallifreian's held tightly to whatever they could as their home was been toed through space. They where no longer prisoners of the time lock as they where free once again. The Master and the president looked up at the changing skies as they knew the chase was on. They had one thing in their sights, Romana!


	5. Chapter 5 Ready for the Mission

Chapter 5 ready for the mission

As the planet swam through space the people waited patiently for the thrill ride to be over. Their belongings shook and fell from their places. But none of this mattered; no one cared what the councils intensions were, for now they were free. The president and the master waited in his quarters for the quake to be over with, the master feeling proud and ready as his newly cut hair, smart snappy three piece suit and dirt free features meant he was ready for his mission. All of a sudden the chaos came to a holt and the ground became still. The Sontaran had stopped dragging the planet and had left it in Solzertic system fifty thousand billion light-years away from the solar system. But it didn't matter for the time lords, just as long as they were in the right part of space. The president rose from his chair and pranced around the room admiring the master from afar.

"You clean up nice!" he grinned.

"Now you know what you have to do, bring the girl back here, do whatever it takes, but I want her alive!" he finished adding anger to his tone.

"And what about him, if he has found her then you know he will not rest until she is safe!" the master added.

"True the doctor could foil our plans. But if he does interfere make him believe you killed the girl and make a clean getaway. Threaten the girls friends if you have to just make sure you get her to go along with the plan!" he redeemed. The master nodded and exited the room with a smirk along his face.

He wondered the corridors until he came to a room with his prize inside. The door glided open and inside was a red polished London public telephone box as means of disguise for his TARDIS. The doctor wasn't the only one who could be practical. The many small windows going down the sides of the box had been tinted black so no one could see through giving the surprise away. He placed his hand on the shiny red paint as he walked around admiring her. For a moment he thought to himself what he was fighting for, he didn't know this girl, she had never done anything to harm him. In his moment of deep thought the sound of annoyance crept forward from the back of his mind. The drumming didn't bother him as much as it once did as he now knew what it was. He still thought of why the call of war had called him as he didn't really think of himself as a warrior. But the master snapped back into his normal horrid self. Romana must be stopped; he was fighting for HIS freedom, for his people. Suddenly the sound of footsteps filled the master's ears as a red head lady dressed in the robes of the council entered the room without a word to him. Her face was slim and pale as she had an ill feeling about her. Her olive eyes, once looked upon would bury themselves into your soul and her dimples as red as the robes that hung off her slimly integral shoulders. He looked at her with a perplexed look on his face, but knew very well who she was.

"Thayadora, haven't changed a bit I see, to what do I owe the pleasure?" he said smoothly.

"You know why I'm here master! You're hunting my daughter my only child, you have to reconsider!" the red headed woman begged of him.

"You know I must follow my orders given by the President, you should especially since you are in the head of the council, anyway why do you turn to me in such a delicate matter, you should speak to the President as it is he that gives the order whether romana lives or dies!" he argued back. Thaya just looked at him in remorse as she knew he wouldn't change his mind.

"Pulling a sorrowful face doesn't make me want to fetch your daughter back any more than a minute ago" he pondered to her leaning against the phone box. When his arm touched the cold metal of the outside he twitched a little but reminded him of his dangerous task.

"So how do you like my new piece of art? My own type sixty TARDIS" he asked with great interest. Thayadora didn't look impressed; she was too busy grieving about her daughter. The master could see it in her eyes, even though he didn't want to.

"Please, for the sake of her not me, I know you hate me for leaving you all those years ago but you caused it upon yourself, your anger and rage sent me packing" she bellowed.

"You knew very well that I had a strong temperament but you still fell in love with me" he replied raising his voice in a harsh tone.

By this point Thaya had been reduced to tears. She was losing this battle and she was running out of tactics to gain the advantage. She held a big secret in her hearts that only she knew of, she was tempted to tell the master in win him over but felt it wasn't her duty to, not even her daughter knew of this secret, or any other members of the council for that matter.

"I want to hear no more of this; romana will not be saved, she will face her trail for what she has done, no questions asked, I follow the president and the president alone" he preached, as this was to be his final statement. Before he changed his mind again he stepped into the time machine, his face turning crimson as the lighting wondered over his features. Then the phone box was gone in a flash as this was no thousand year old piece of museum exhibit. Thayadora lost all hope of ever seeing her daughter alive again, all in that one second.

"If only you knew!" she sighed as she went away and tented to her duties.

Inside the rouge lighting left the consol room looking like something out of a hell scene. The master didn't seem to mind the dim lighting but he had other things to worry about other than the interior design of his new machine. Romana wouldn't be easy to track down especially with nothing to go on. But his destination was still to be earth as that would be the first place she would run to and fit in he thought to himself. He still wondered why Thayadora want him to spare her daughter so much, why him? Why not present herself to the head of the council since she was one of them after all. All that along with the constant drumming echoing from the back of his mind. He loosened the grey tie from around his neck and undid the first button of the white shirt.

"I will find you!" he smirked to himself as he headed for his destination.


End file.
